The Gridley was launched by Union Ironworks of San Francisco, California , om 4 July 1918, sponsored by Mrs. Francis P. Thomas, daughter of Captain Charles Vernon Gridley, for whom the vessel was named. (Find-a-Grave lists just one daughter, Katherine V. Gridley Buddy (1873-1957).
After fitting out at Mare Island Navy Yard, she departed San Diego on 14 March 1919, and transited the Panama Canal for maneuvers in Cuban waters then to Norfolk, Virginia, for repairs and then to New York City on 22 April 1919.
Its first assignment was with a group of destroyers posted along the route of the Navy's first transatlantic seaplane flight. The Gridley and other destroyers used smoke and flares to guide the intrepid flyers and with the help of other surface ships, the N4 was successfully able to fly across the Atlantic and land in the Azores on 17 March 1919.
--Cooter
No comments:
Post a Comment